The DoT refused to renew the telecom licence of the Anil Ambani led firm unless it clears its statutory dues of Rs 26,000 crore. If the bankrupt telco fails to do so it will be forced to surrender its spectrum and its asset sale plan under the insolvency process will get derailed.
Shares of Reliance Communication tanked 5 per cent, its daily circuit limit, to Rs 3.36 on Tuesday. However, the counter settled at Rs 3.53 on Monday. BSE Sensex was trading at 52,961.90, up by 81.9 points or 0.15 per cent at the time of writing this report.
“DoT has informed RCom that it cannot renew telecom licences unless previous spectrum related dues are cleared. This followed the resolution professional’s (RP) communication to the department that as per Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, its dues come under a moratorium and it does not have to pay them,” said an official aware of the developments.
RCom had written to the DoT, requesting that its telecom licence be renewed for another 20 years. RCom owns a pan-India telecom licence and holds airwaves in the 850 MHz band in 14 of India’s 22 telecom circles. Its permits expire in July.
